Layla MarinoIndustrial MetalAfter severe illness and a near death experience, industrial
nu-metal duo The Unravelling’s frontman Steve Moore is slowly but surely returning
to his former glory and thus the band can also slowly but surely begin
releasing singles. They released their first single in over five years,
“Revolt,” in April of this year, and it was a major coup both with the press
and their fans. Now with the follow-up, “Master Drone,” The Unravelling are
slowly gaining steam and returning to the former heavy yet diverse sound that
made them an underground favourite five years ago.
The Unravelling won both critical and popular acclaim with
their first full album in 2010. 13 Arcane
Hymns won a number of accolades on its release including three nominations
in the 2010 Alberta Metal Awards with a win in the Best Album category, a top
position on the CSJW metal charts and extremely high praise from the likes of
Metalsucks.com, Suite101 and Pitch Black Magazine. Their unique combination of
industrial, different types of metal and a hint of grunge on 13 Arcane Hymns was able to reach a wide
audience but still earn respect from the more dedicated metal and industrial
scenes.
With April’s “Revolt,” songwriter and producer Gustavo
DeBeauville changed his format from the 2010, as it was decidedly more
industrial than most of the tracks on 13
Arcane Hymns with very little metal. For Moore’s part, his vocals and
lyrics were definitely up to par with history. With lyrics both politically and
introspectively tinged, Moore drew on the experience of his illness and found
that a true revolt has to start from within oneself. Vocally, his energy was as
fiery as ever.
“Master Drone,” which was released earlier this July, starts
out quite a bit heavier than “Revolt,” and has no shortage of DeBeauville’s
characteristic guitar work, but he winds it down to a more drawn-out goth metal
feel for the verse to allow for Moore’s powerful lyrics. DeBeauville toggles
back and forth between these two styles, and the interplay between his guitar
and musical songwriting and Moore’s vocals is smooth and seamless despite the
hard edge to the song. This is something the duo have always done particularly
well.
Moore’s vocal timbre is clear and operatic in places,
similar to Maynard from Tool. In other areas he takes on a raspy, screaming
quality somewhat like Richard Patrick from Filter. Lyrically, there’s a lot to
this song, per Moore’s modus operandi. On The Unravelling’s Bandcamp page, he
says that the “Master Drone” is meant to be a character; a sort of dystopian figure
who lives well through a filter of reality which Moore clearly believes is a
farce. The Master Drone has mastered conventional reality, and although this
character seems to have a perfect handle on life, he or she is ultimately lost
because mastery of this life is an illusion. The real masters are those
creating and perpetuating conventional reality as a distraction and a control
mechanism. It’s a powerful message, and Moore paints a vivid picture.
Gustavo DeBeauville saved lots of material in the hopes that
Steve Moore would recover from his illness and the duo could continue on the
unique metal/industrial fusion and dystopian musical path they’d started.
Hopefully they will soon release a full album, but in the meantime their single
releases are more than enough for fans who were missing The Unravelling. What’s even better is that all their music is
available for free download on Bandcamp.

The Unravelling - Master Drone

After severe illness and a near death experience, industrial
nu-metal duo The Unravelling’s frontman Steve Moore is slowly but surely returning
to his former glory and thus the band can also slowly but surely begin
releasing singles. They released their first single in over five years,
“Revolt,” in April of this year, and it was a major coup both with the press
and their fans. Now with the follow-up, “Master Drone,” The Unravelling are
slowly gaining steam and returning to the former heavy yet diverse sound that
made them an underground favourite five years ago.
The Unravelling won both critical and popular acclaim with
their first full album in 2010. 13 Arcane
Hymns won a number of accolades on its release including three nominations
in the 2010 Alberta Metal Awards with a win in the Best Album category, a top
position on the CSJW metal charts and extremely high praise from the likes of
Metalsucks.com, Suite101 and Pitch Black Magazine. Their unique combination of
industrial, different types of metal and a hint of grunge on 13 Arcane Hymns was able to reach a wide
audience but still earn respect from the more dedicated metal and industrial
scenes.
With April’s “Revolt,” songwriter and producer Gustavo
DeBeauville changed his format from the 2010, as it was decidedly more
industrial than most of the tracks on 13
Arcane Hymns with very little metal. For Moore’s part, his vocals and
lyrics were definitely up to par with history. With lyrics both politically and
introspectively tinged, Moore drew on the experience of his illness and found
that a true revolt has to start from within oneself. Vocally, his energy was as
fiery as ever.
“Master Drone,” which was released earlier this July, starts
out quite a bit heavier than “Revolt,” and has no shortage of DeBeauville’s
characteristic guitar work, but he winds it down to a more drawn-out goth metal
feel for the verse to allow for Moore’s powerful lyrics. DeBeauville toggles
back and forth between these two styles, and the interplay between his guitar
and musical songwriting and Moore’s vocals is smooth and seamless despite the
hard edge to the song. This is something the duo have always done particularly
well.
Moore’s vocal timbre is clear and operatic in places,
similar to Maynard from Tool. In other areas he takes on a raspy, screaming
quality somewhat like Richard Patrick from Filter. Lyrically, there’s a lot to
this song, per Moore’s modus operandi. On The Unravelling’s Bandcamp page, he
says that the “Master Drone” is meant to be a character; a sort of dystopian figure
who lives well through a filter of reality which Moore clearly believes is a
farce. The Master Drone has mastered conventional reality, and although this
character seems to have a perfect handle on life, he or she is ultimately lost
because mastery of this life is an illusion. The real masters are those
creating and perpetuating conventional reality as a distraction and a control
mechanism. It’s a powerful message, and Moore paints a vivid picture.
Gustavo DeBeauville saved lots of material in the hopes that
Steve Moore would recover from his illness and the duo could continue on the
unique metal/industrial fusion and dystopian musical path they’d started.
Hopefully they will soon release a full album, but in the meantime their single
releases are more than enough for fans who were missing The Unravelling. What’s even better is that all their music is
available for free download on Bandcamp.